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Local dispatchers help woman in NY

In this 2012 file photo, Mike Franklin, left, City of Lafayette 911 supervisor, and Yvonne Budreau work in the city's 911 center. Budreau was one of two dispatchers who Tuesday responded to a local 911 caller whose friend was having a medical emergency in Brooklyn, New York. Dispatchers Budreau and Mark Grimes worked with their New York City counterparts to find the woman and get her help.(Photo: file photo/Journal & Courier)

More than 700 miles separated Lafayette dispatchers from a woman with a medical condition they were trying to help in Brooklyn, New York, but they made it happen Tuesday.

A person in Lafayette was talking by videophone with a friend in Brooklyn when the New York woman slumped over and became motionless on the floor, according to Lafayette police.

The person here called 911 and reached Lafayette dispatchers Yvonne Budreau and Mark Grimes. They called New York police and fire dispatchers, and with the help of the Lafayette caller, the New York first responders managed to locate the apartment where the woman lay unconscious, police said.

The first responders forced their way into the apartment and found the woman unresponsive but breathing, according to Lafayette police.

“The distance covered in order to dispatch proper personnel with limited information made this event particularly challenging,” Lafayette police Lt. Brian Gossard wrote in a press release. “However, the quick thinking and teamwork displayed allowed for a positive outcome to this incident.”